The Day Things Changed
by KicsterAsh
Summary: This story is my idea of what happened the day Danny Fenton got his ghost powers.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: Okay, this was a short story I wrote and posted on my DeviantArt page with the title, "The Accident", to go along with the picture I made. I figured that this would be my first entry on , and a good place to start._

_Please forgive me in advance for the amount of dialogue in the story... I've come to realize that it's easier for me to balance out dialogue and narration in my own stories than when I write fanfiction based off of a cartoon show._

_With that behind me, here goes..._

* * *

Danny was not planning on having a good day that Monday morning. Once again, there was school, and once again, his parents had kept him up with the racket in their laboratory.

It had been that way for several weeks, now. Since they began, neither Danny nor Jazz were allowed in the basement, although there was no doubt his sister would never set foot in there anyhow; since she had turned thirteen three years earlier, she had considered her parents to be crazy, and had begun to try and find different ways to convince them of letting their ghost hunting obsessions go.

Which was always easier than done.

_Brrrrooooooommmm! Clank! Clank! Brrrrrrrrrr…_

Danny groaned as he slipped his white t-shirt over his body and pulled his head through. "How long do they expect to keep this up?" he pouted. After a yawn, he slipped his socks over his feet and grabbed his red sneakers. "If I don't get some sleep soon, I won't last another day through school."

He checked his clock. It was currently seven thirty; he had half an hour to kill before needing to head out for school.

"Time for some breakfast and then a quick video game," the fourteen-year-old muttered tiredly as he grabbed his school bag and dragged his feet out of his room.

Jazz was already downstairs in the kitchen, reading another psychology book while chewing on some toast. Danny dropped his bag on the floor and sat at the table, where he poured some cereal into a bowl, followed by the milk.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you," Jazz muttered without looking up from her book.

Danny held the open milk jug over his bowl but stopped before any of the liquid came out. He stared with a tired frown at his sister. "Well, you're _not _me, _are _you?" he replied stubbornly.

"Trust me, Danny; the milk is sour," his sixteen-year-old sister warned, finally looking up at him. "Dad left it out all night again."

The black-haired teenager blinked several times before finally pulling the jug towards his nose and taking a sniff. Immediately, his nose wrinkled and a look of disgust crossed over his face. "Oh, my _gosh!"_ he exclaimed in revulsion. He placed his hand over his face and put down the jug. "Why does he keep _doing_ that!"

"Because he's been staying up every other night, working on whatever it is in the basement," Jazz replied unenthusiastically. A frown crossed over her brow as she chewed on some more toast. "Out of _all _that parents I could have belong to, _mine _had to be crazy _ghost _hunters," she muttered irritably.

"At least they care enough to know we still exist," Danny replied as he stood up and went to dump the sour milk in the sink. "Look at it this way, Jazz; we could have been born to successful dipsticks who wouldn't care that their child is alive."

Jazz looked up at him and noticed that her brother's eyes were not only restless, but upset. Since they had been young, Jazz had learned how to read Danny's soft cornflower blue eyes. She knew when something was bothering him.

"Dad forgot to take you to the arcade again, didn't he?" she said sympathetically.

Danny turned the tap and poured some hot water into the milk jug. Once he had, he placed his hand against the opening and shook the jug, cleaning it out.

"Danny?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, Jazz."

"But he forgot. Again."

"Dad's just that way. It's no big deal; I'll go with Tucker after school or something. Or he'll download the playable version onto his PC at home."

But Jazz could tell that her brother was trying desperately to cover his disappointment. She wanted to hold him, like she could when they were children, but she knew that Danny would only push himself away from her.

"Danny…" Jazz began.

Suddenly, a great explosion from the basement caused the entire house to shake. Danny nearly lost his footing, thankfully not dropping the jug. Jazz gasped and reached out to catch a glass bowl as it fell from the counter.

"What the _heck?"_ Danny exclaimed, tossing the jug into the sink and catching the toaster as the machine fell. "What are they _doing _down there?"

"They're going to tear down the _house!"_ Jazz complained. She leaped to her feet and set the bowl down and stuck her head out of the kitchen doorway. "HEY! TWO CIVILIZED TEENAGERS ARE _TRYING _TO HAVE A CIVILIZED _BREAKFAST_ HERE!" she hollered across the house.

There was a moment of silence before anyone answered back. "What was that, Sweetie?" her mother called from the basement.

"We didn't hear ya over that explosion!" her father added.

Jazz groaned loudly and pulled on her hair. "I'm going to go CRAZY if I don't find a way to make them _grow up!_" She turned into the kitchen again. "Danny, do you—!"

To her surprise, her little brother had pushed by her and dashed into the living room. There, he leaped over the couch and ran for the basement stairs.

Jazz stared at him in shock. "Danny, we're not allowed downstairs!" she warned. "Mom and Dad said so!"

"I don't care anymore!" Danny shouted back. "I want to see what it is that they're working on!"

"But Dad said—!"

"I _forgot _what he said, and I _honestly _don't CARE anymore!"

Jazz watched as he disappeared down the stairs before running after him. "Hey! Wait for me!" she shouted, dashing down the stairs. "Although I'm just keeping an eye on you… I'm not… interested in the least… of anything they're working on…"

* * *

Danny leaped over the two last steps and entered his family's basement. For as long as he could remember, his parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, had transformed the basement into a giant lab. Everything that could possibly belong in any regular house was on the main floor, the second floor, or the attic.

Anything ghost-related was stored in the basement.

There had been nothing _interesting _to Danny in the basement, which was why he hardly went down there. All there was, were useless weapons, counters and lab tables, a computer system and strange devices Danny had never honestly discovered what their purposes were.

But that was before today.

Danny turned the corner and stopped in his tracks. Several metalworking tools were scattered over the basement floor, nearly causing the fourteen-year-old to slip. But when he raised his head, his eyes suddenly gazing upon the most amazing thing he had ever seen his parents build:

Where there was once a bare wall now stood a round hole. The entrance of the giant hole led several feet deep into the wall, creating a type of tube. Metal plates formed the frame of the hole, giving it an octagonal shape, while the inside was covered in smooth sheets of a silvery blue steel. Lines and designs were etched into it, giving each metal plate the look of a giant microchip of some sort.

Standing before this amazing sight were Danny's parents, both clad in their blue or orange jumpsuits. They had metal smoothing tools in their hands at the moment, using them to polish and even out the outside rim of the tunnel.

Danny's jaw dropped. It was the first time he had been so astounded by something his parents had done.

"Whooooooaaaaaaaa," Danny said in awe, just as his sister caught up to him.

"What's _whoa?"_ Jazz wondered. "What are you—!" Her eyes suddenly fell upon the giant hole, and like her brother, she was immediately blown away. "_Whoooooooooaaaaaa!"_

Jack and Maddie pulled their tools away from the hole and raised their working goggles. They smiled At their children, not seeming the least bit upset that they were in the basement. "Like it?" Jack said proudly.

"Tell us what you think, kids!" Maddie added cheerfully.

Danny closed his gaping mouth and shared a look with his sister. "Uh… well…" he began. Scratching his head, the teenager looked at his parents once more. "It's, uh… Wh-what _is _it?"

"You mean you can't tell?" Jack said in shock, almost as though he would have expected his children to know.

Jazz frowned and crossed her arms. "Uh, we don't read the _Ghost Digest, _Dad," she said coolly.

Maddie put down her tool and beckoned her children to come over. "This, kids, is the greatest invention we've ever come up with," she said proudly, holding her arm out to the hole. When Danny was nearby, she placed an arm around his shoulders. "The link between our world and the Ghost World!"

"The _Ghost _World?" Jazz added sceptically.

Danny stared at the tube in odd fascination. "What's it called?" he wondered.

Jack beamed proudly as he and his wife answered in unison: "A _Ghost Portal."_

"A _portal?"_ Danny echoed, now almost as enthralled as his parents were. "You mean this tube can connect the Real World to another one? With _ghosts _in it?"

Jazz groaned. "Danny, Ghosts don't exist, remember?" she said. "I thought you knew that already."

Danny looked at her. "Well, I do," he began.

"And I thought you were _freaked out _of them!"

"Well, I am…"

"Ha!"

"But it doesn't hurt to just _ask,_ Jazz."

"This is _crazy!_ Danny, ghosts are figments of everyone's imagination! They don't exist, therefore a world containing them would not exist either!"

"Well, technically, it's a Zone, Dear," Maddie corrected her. "A dimensional Zone. Kind of like the opposite to Earth."

Jazz lost her patience. "This is ridiculous, Mom! For the past several weeks, Danny and I have lost countless hours of sleep, and all because you and Dad are working on some dumb portal that is supposed to connect us to a _zone _that doesn't even _exist?"_

"It exists!" Jack argued. "We can prove it!"

His daughter crossed her arms again and glared at him. "Oh _really?"_ she challenged. "And how are you going to do that? You just _built _this thing."

"But it works!"

"How do _you _know?"

Jack made a grimace and looked at his wife. Maddie gave a confident smile and held up a switch. "Jazz, Sweetie, we spent all night working on the last details, and we've finally got it functioning!" she said proudly. "With just the flick of this switch, we can open the portal, and our world and the Ghost Zone will be connected!"

While Jazz continued to grump, Danny, despite his slight fear of the paranormal, was becoming more and more curious about this said portal. He leaned towards the remote in his mother's arms and stared at it with bright eyes. "You mean, that thing will open the portal?" he asked.

Maddie grinned at him. "You want to see?"

Danny leaned back. "Uh—!"

"—If it means to prove how irresponsible and completely ridiculous my parents have become, then _yes,"_ Jazz interrupted. "Just get it over with! I need to get to school!"

Jack grabbed the remote from his wife and pointed it at the portal. "Then let's see this baby roll!" he exclaimed. "Jack Fenton, the world's greatest ghost hunter—!"

"More like the world's _only_ ghost hunter," Jazz muttered in her brother's ear.

"—will now activate the Fenton Ghost Portal!" her father finished. "LET THERE BE AFTERLIFE!"

And he flicked the switch with his thumb.

Danny and Jazz stared at the device until a low hum filled the lab. Both teenagers turned their heads and gasped softly while staring at the Ghost Portal.

The hole began to fill with glowing lights. The designs inside its walls glow a dim blueish green.

"It's working, Maddie," Jack announced excitedly. "It's working! It's working! It's—!"

All of a sudden, there was a loud sputter. The sound made both Danny and Jazz jump back in fright. The lights in the portal were immediately put out, and the humming died away. Sparks flew for a split second.

The Fentons stared at it in complete shock.

"—_not _working," Jazz finished sardonically. She turned on her heels and walked back up the stairs. "Okay, then; if you guys are finished acting like children, I'll get my things ready and drive to school."

Jack and Maddie watched her leave before staring in complete disappointment at the portal. "But all the calculations were correct," Maddie announced sadly. "We did everything right. Why isn't it working?"

"Maybe you missed a step," Danny suggested with a shrug. "No big deal, Mom. Even the greatest of scientists make mistakes."

"Yeah," Jack replied, "But not_ ghost _hunters." With slouching shoulders and sad eyes, the couple turned and dragged their feet back up the stairs.

Danny watched them leave in silence before staring at the portal. He cocked his head a little to one side and stared in fascination at the portal.

_I wonder… what would be on the other side if it _did _work,_ he thought.

* * *

The fifteen-minute bell rang at quarter-after-eight throughout Casper High, Amity Park's public high school. By then, most students had already arrived, ready for classes, if not just standing around in the corridors, chattering away.

Like every other high school, there were social cliques that separated the student body. Groups such as the Football Stars, the Marching Band, Computer Nerds, the Bullies and the Bullied; the only thing that each group had in common was that they were either Popular… or _un_popular.

Danny had been part of the Invisible Geek clique since he had begun his freshman year in September. Like in grade school, his timid and clumsy personality had made him a favourite to the bullies and popular students. He never considered himself smart, though his mother had told him countless of times that if he at least _tried _in his classes, he would ace them all. He never considered himself talented, which was why he didn't win at chess, nor played in the marching band.

In fact, Danny was one of the only students in Casper High that did not belong to _any _social clique… at _all._

But thankfully for him, there were two things that made him feel slightly better about not belonging anywhere; and their names were Tucker Foley and Samantha "Sam" Manson.

His two, and only, best friends.

As Danny turned the corner and headed for his locker, he noticed his two companions leaning against it, talking softly about something. It made Danny grin, and almost had him feeling even the slightest luckier than anyone in the school: Tucker had been a full-fledged Techno-Geek since the school year had started, although he had been technology savvy for several years before that. His thick glasses, bright coloured clothes—which did not often match—and his beloved PDA had labelled him as a technology know-it-all at the beginning of their freshman year. Sam was part of the Goth community. Her dark clothing, long leather boots and dark mascara gave her stubborn, snappy and independent personality an instant label in September.

But despite the fact that they _both _belonged to different cliques, the one thing Danny truly admired from them was that they did not _care._ They considered themselves Goth or Techno, but they labelled themselves _Danny Fenton's Best Friends_ over anything else.

Danny grinned weakly when he saw them in their usual place at his locker, and after checking for any signs of bullies, hoisted up his bag and walked towards them.

Tucker was currently writing something down in his PDA, with Sam looking over his shoulder. "Remember to put the word _movie,_ beside the date," the girl instructed him. "The _right _date."

"Sam, I think I know how to use a PDA," Tucker replied flatly. "The thirteenth, right?"

"Yep."

"See? I'm not _that_ clueless."

Danny walked up to them and sighed loudly. "Morning," he yawned, catching their attention.

Tucker and Sam looked up at his arrival and grinned. "Hey, Dude," Tucker greeted as he moved aside to let Danny get to his locker. "How was your night?"

"_Please _don't ask me that," Danny groaned, opening his locker up and stuffing his bag in it.

Tucker shared a concerned look with Sam before the goth leaned towards her best friend. "Danny, if you're not getting enough sleep, you should tell that to your parents," she suggested. Both she and Tucker were aware of Danny's parents' obsession with the paranormal, not to mention they knew that Danny had not had proper sleep for several weeks.

"Can't actually _do _that if they're in the basement twenty-four-seven," Danny replied as he pulled out his class binder.

Sam leaned back as Danny closed his locker. Tucker cleared his throat and placed his PDA in his bag. "So, Danny," he said, cracking a grin. His green eyes sparkled. "Tell me what the new game at the arcade is like." He tried referring from squirming like a giddy little child. "Come on, Danny; you can't hog all the goods! Tell me what it's like, Dude!"

Danny stared at him for a moment before looking at his binder. "I have no idea," he replied quietly.

Both of his friends stared at him in disbelief. Tucker pointed over his shoulder. "But, but you said your dad was going to _take _you yesterday," he noted. "You _said _so—!"

"Right, I _said _so," Danny answered, raising his eyes and frowning. "It doesn't mean it happened."

Tucker fell silent as he slowly lowered his arm.

"Dad forgot… _again._ He was busy with Mom in the basement."

Tucker's jaw dropped. Sam frowned and crossed her arms. "Honestly, Danny, when are you going to have the guts to _remind _him?" she scolded. "Everyone knows how forgetful your dad is, so why don't you remind him a few times?"

"Because a fourteen-year-old kid shouldn't need to _remind _his own _dad _about a simple outing, Sam," Danny argued.

"Oh, grow up, Danny; you're part of the age of rebellion. Teens _do _that kind of stuff!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not part of _that_ clique either," he said, pointing at himself. He walked by his friends and headed towards class. "Besides, Sam; they finished what they were working on this morning, so Dad will probably be free for the rest of the week."

Tucker and Sam shared a curious look before dashing after their friend. "They finished?" Sam echoed.

"What was it that they were working on?" Tucker added.

Danny shrugged. "Something they called a _Ghost Portal,"_ he replied. "Apparently, it can connect our world to the Ghost Zone."

"Where the hey is _that?"_

"_I _don't know; all I know is that it's filled with ghosts, and not humans."

Sam leaned forward as they walked and looked at Danny. "So, did they show it to you?" she wondered.

Danny looked at her. "Yeah," he replied. "It's like a giant hole in the wall, like a half finished tunnel. It actually looks fairly advanced, and I almost thought that _this _invention would actually work."

"You mean, it's another _fail?"_ Tucker guessed blankly.

"According to my parents' reaction, an _epic _fail, Dude."

"That reeks."

"Yeah. They tried turning it on to show Jazz and me, but all it did was spark and go out like a light bulb."

Sam ran off a few steps and stopped, causing both Danny and Tucker to do the same and stare at her. "Then, if it doesn't work, you mind if we come over after school and take a look at it?" she asked with a grin.

Danny stared at her in surprise before looking at Tucker. The black student already had the same excited look on his face that Sam had. Teeth bared in a wide smile, the geek nodded vigorously.

Danny became anxious. Nervously, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I dunno, guys," he said worriedly. "My parents don't really like it when we let people come and check their lab out. Mom's worried we could get hurt."

"Oh, come on, Danny!" Tucker insisted, tugging on his best friend's shirt. "We promise we won't touch anything!"

"I don't know, Tucker…"

Sam clasped her hands together. "I brought my grandmother's old camera with me to school for a project," she said. "It would be _so _sweet if I got a picture of this portal, Danny!"

"Guys, my parents are gonna _kill _me," Danny argued, now frowning softly. "What part of that don't you understand?"

"Are they going to be home?" Tucker wondered.

His best friend looked at him. "Well… No," Danny replied. "Mom and Dad normally go out ghost scanning on Mondays. They shouldn't be back until at _least _dinner time—!"

"Then sweet!" Tucker pulled out his PDA and punched in a memo. "I'll call my parents at lunch hour and tell them that I'm going to be over at your place until dinner, working on a school project…"

Danny recoiled in shock. "B-but—!" he stuttered.

Sam ran over to Tucker. "Make sure to remind me to call my folks too!" she added.

"Guys—!"

"Got it typed in, Sam! 3:00, we are headed to Danny Fenton's house—!"

Danny lost his patience. "I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE!" he snapped. When both Sam and Tucker looked up at him, he crossed his arms and frowned. "What part of _my parents will KILL me_ didn't go through your heads?"

"What part of _we don't care_ didn't go through _yours?"_ Sam argued.

"Guys, I can't invite you over into my parents' lab! What if one of Dad's inventions wakes up again and starts shooting you? How am I going to explain the death of my best friends to their parents? HOW WILL I SURVIVE HIGH SCHOOL?"

"Danny, get a grip, you Dip!" Sam groaned, reaching over and swatting the boy across the head. "We're curious, not stupid."

"Yeah; we just want to see the portal," Tucker added with a shrug. He made gestures with his hands: "Then, we'll be in and out before you know it."

Danny rubbed his chin thoughtfully before looking up at his best friends again. "In and out?" he echoed.

"Yep."

"Only to see the portal?"

"Yep."

"Nothing else?"

"Are we going to be doing this all _day?"_ Sam sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

Danny looked at her before staring at Tucker again. Once the five-minute bell finally rang and people began dashing off to class, the boy sighed loudly and finally cracked a grin. "Okay," he gave in. "I'll show you guys the Ghost Portal. But then it's out. Capiche?"

"You got it!" Sam replied with an excited grin.

Tucker rubbed his hands together. "Oh, this is the _sweetest _day of my life!" he squealed.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny had no idea why his friends were so interested about the portal—well, Tucker was probably an obvious reason: he was technology savvy. If anyone was said to create a portal that could link Earth to another dimension or world, then he was definitely enthralled.

Sam, however, was a different story. Why she was so curious about the portal was beyond Danny; even if she was goth and enjoyed anything Halloween-related, she had always felt a little, if not more, awkward when around her best friend's parents.

Tucker did what he said he would do, and he called his parents to let him know of his whereabouts that evening after school. Sam did the same, though it took her a little more persuasion than Tucker. But in the end, they both got permission to go over to Danny's house after school to work on their project.

_And _to check out the Ghost Portal.

The day went by slowly, much to Danny's dismay. After having been stuffed in his locker three times and then shoved to the ground more than a dozen times by the school's star football player, he was more than happy to finally hear the final bell ring. Dashiel "Dash" Baxter had chosen Danny to be his pincushion since grade school, and always went to him if he wanted to bully someone. For some reason, Danny had become his personal favourite to pick on.

_Out of the entire student body, Dash had to be the only one who could see Invisible Danny,_ Danny thought time and again.

As he closed his locker and hoisted up his bag, Danny sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "Despite the pop quiz, the crazy cliques and fat-head bullies, you've survived another day, Fenton," he said to himself.

Sam, who was standing nearby—Tucker was leaning against the lockers, waiting patiently to depart—crossed her arms and leaned towards Danny. "You know, you should really start standing up to him, Danny," she said. "It may give some courage to all the other kids who get picked on by Dash."

"Courage?" Danny scoffed. He looked at Sam with a sceptic look. "_Courage?_ Sam, since when have you been able to piece _me _with _courage?_"

"Well, who else should do it?" Sam replied. She pointed at herself. "_I _can't. I'm a girl. Not to mention he'd just keep picking on you more, considering he thinks we're a couple." She pointed over her shoulder at Tucker. "Tucker? Shyeah, _right; _he wouldn't last second in the ring with Fat-Head Baxter—!"

"Hey!" Tucker exclaimed, raising his head. "I'm right _here, _Sam!"

Sam looked at him for a moment before turning and looking at Danny again.

Danny placed a hand over his chest. "What do _I _have that Tucker lacks, Sam?" he said. "I've got _no _muscles, _no _strength, _no _self-confidence and most importantly, _NO_ courage! Not to mention Dash is two years older than me and nearly twice my size! I'd be killed instantly!"

"Danny, you need to stop underestimating yourself," Sam sighed. "You've got something that other people don't have, but only you can make it come out."

"Oh yeah? And what is it that I have that Dash doesn't? Eccentric parents? Unpopularity?"

"I think she was thinking more along the lines of _big heart _and _charisma,"_ Tucker muttered with a playful grin, pretending to examine his fingernails.

Danny raised his eyebrows in shock and stared at Sam as his cheeks turned pink. Sam, however, before any signs of her emotions could be noticed, turned and gave Tucker a hard slap across the head. The black teenager yelped painfully and covered his head in pain before rubbing it.

"He's just _kidding, _Danny," Sam said loudly behind her teeth. She turned and faced Danny once more and her frown dissipated. "Everyone's got a good point, Danny. Everyone's got a gift that makes them unique." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Even you."

"If I do, then _why _am I still feeling as crummy or as invisible as I did yesterday?" Danny replied miserably. "Or the day before that?" He sighed heavily and brushed Sam's hand off of his shoulder. "Forget it, Sam. I'm a geek with no social ranking, and especially no special talents." He hoisted up his bag and looked at Tucker over Sam's shoulder. "Let's get going before I change my mind due to a lack of happiness," he announced.

Tucker looked at Sam and shrugged weakly before pulling himself away from the lockers. As they walked off, he hoisted up his pants and leaped onto Danny's back, causing the fourteen-year-old to groan in surprise and stumble forward. "Tucker, what the heck?" Danny exclaimed.

"You need some cheering up, Dude," Tucker replied with a smile.

"And jumping on my back does justice _how?"_

"It doesn't. It just let's you know that you're not the only geek with no official social ranking… That and I'm too lazy to walk."

Though Sam only rolled her eyes, Danny smiled and chuckled softly.

"Am I cheering you up?"

"Just barely, but it's a start—!"

"Then I'm afraid I need to cut the cheerfulness short for a few seconds, boys," a man spoke up behind them, quite unenthusiastically.

Danny froze and turned around, Tucker still on his back. Standing behind them was the school's vice president, and one of Danny's least favourite teachers, Mr. Lancer. The out-of-shape man with receding brown hair, a wide chin and a small goatee, stared down at them with the same icy yet irritating stare that Danny had grown to dislike. He had not even been in high school for two months and already this teacher had chosen him as one of the troublemakers.

"You left class in a hurry, Mr. Fenton," Lancer's soft yet cold voice announced. He held up a paper. "And without taking the result of last week's test."

Danny stared at the paper and his heart sank once more; stamped on the top left corner of the sheet was a giant red C. Although C was as good as anything for him, Danny knew his mother would be disappointed.

Lancer waited a moment before opening his mouth to speak again. "I assume you will want your parents to see this, am I not right, Daniel?" he added.

Danny tried not to roll his eyes. Lancer opened his mouth to speak again, but to his surprise, Tucker whipped out his hand and snatched the test sheet from his teacher. "I'll take _that!"_ he said, if not with a tone of dryness.

Lancer stared at him in shock as Sam saluted him. "It's after school hours now, Mr. Lancer," she said. "By about ten minutes." She walked off, followed by Danny and Tucker. "Which means you've got no power over us until tomorrow and no right to spoil our mood!"

"Later, Dude!" Tucker added, waving Danny's test sheet in the air as he was carried off.

It was only after exiting the school that Danny looked back at the doors and then stared at his best friends in shock. "Guys, are you _crazy?"_ he exclaimed. "Mr. Lancer's going to be super tough on you tomorrow!"

"Then let him be!" Sam sniffed. "I'm not afraid of him after school hours, never mind _during _school hours."

"Yeah," Tucker replied. "Not to mention he can't do anything about it because school hours are through."

"B-but—!"

Tucker playfully rubbed Danny's head. "Dude, you have _got _to stop being so chicken sometimes," he teased. "A bit of a backbone _once _and a while wouldn't hurt."

"I've got a backbone," Danny replied, slightly hurt by this.

"Yeah," Sam snickered. "But it keeps crumbling."

Danny stuck out his tongue, making Tucker laugh. "Let's just get to my place before Lancer sends the janitor after us," he said through a laugh.

"The _janitor?"_ Tucker giggled. "Ha! _That _would be awesome! Chased by a janitor and a broom… What can be more hilarious than _that?"_


	3. Chapter 3

Jazz was already at home, doing her homework in the study room, when Danny and his friends came over. There was a loud _BANG_ against the front door, causing the sixteen-year-old to jump out of her chair in fright and stare at the door.

There was a pause before she heard anything. "ONE, TWO, THREE, I WIIIIIINNNN!" came the excited hollers of two teenaged boys.

The red-headed girl sat back down and glared at the door in irritation. "Danny, you dork," she muttered before returning to her studies.

The doorknob turned and the door flew open, sending Danny and Tucker flying to the floor beside each other. "OOF!" they both shouted as they landed. Tuckers glasses tumbled off of his face and his beret flipped onto Danny's head instead.

Sam walked over them, not caring by the least that she stepped at least once on their backs. "You guys are so pathetic, sometimes, it's hard to believe," she said with a yawn.

"We're not pathetic," Danny replied as he got to his knees. Tucker slowly raised himself and began searching for his bifocals.

Sam looked back at him and smiled. "Uh, _yes _you are," she replied.

"Are not!"

"What fourteen-year-old races up the front door to see who wins?"

"Tucker and I do, _that's _who," Danny replied as he removed the beret from his head and placed it crookedly on his best friend's. When he saw that Tucker was still blindly searching for his glasses, he reached out and grabbed them. "Here, Bud," he said, handing the glasses to his best friend.

"My point exactly."

As Tucker thanked Danny and placed his bifocals back over his nose, Jazz leaned back from her chair and looked at her brother. "Danny, did you even ask Mom and Dad if they could come over?" she asked.

"Dad never notices, and Mom never complains," Danny replied as he helped Tucker back on his feet. "Besides; they'll be gone before Mom and Dad get back."

"You can't just invite them in on your own terms."

"Who says?"

"… House rules."

Danny scoffed and waved an arm at his sister. "Jazz, I've had a bad enough day already, thank you," he said grumpily. Hoisting up his bag, he walked up the stairs, followed by his best friends. "I don't need _you _giving me a lecture to top everything off with a cherry, thanks."

Jazz waited a moment and got out of her chair in order to walk to the doorway and watcher her brother stomp upstairs. This had not been the first time Danny had decided to be just a tad rebellious—against his _sister, _that is. Danny never spoke back to their parents, never argued his mother's punishments, and never tried to avoid a topic his parents wanted to chat about, whether it be his grades or his messy room.

But Jazz…

Once upon a time, Danny had always been cheerful. Once upon a time, he shared all of his secrets with his sister. Once upon a time, he was not afraid of telling Jazz what was bothering him. Once upon a time… he never snapped at her.

The sixteen-year-old stared up the stairs in silence as Danny's bedroom door closed. Then, she sighed heavily and went back to work.

_Teenagers, _she thought, although she did so with even the least bit of concern for her baby brother.

* * *

Danny tossed his bag onto his bed and sighed. "You guys are _so _lucky to be the only child in your family," he groaned.

Tucker shrugged while Sam took her bag off of her shoulders. "Sure, I guess," she replied. "But I thought you and Jazz got a long nicely."

"Yeah; when I was younger. She's such a nag, sometimes."

Tucker sat down on the bean chair near Danny's computer and yawned. "So; should we check this thing out now or wait a few minutes?" he wondered.

"I say wait a few minutes," Danny replied. "If we go straight downstairs now, Jazz will suspect something… Not to mention we actually _do _have to work on that project, Tucker."

"We've got until next Tuesday, Dude; we've got plenty of time!"

Sam pulled out her homework binder. "Danny's got a point, Tuck," she replied. "Besides; the last thing we need is looking suspicious. If we have Jazz thinking that we're here only to visit the ghost portal, or just to fool around when Danny's actually got some homework to do, then we'll _all _face grounding charges."

Tucker groaned and pulled out his PDA. "Fine," he mumbled. He tapped the digital pen against the screen of his hand-held planner. "Okay, so the best thing we should do is split the chores of this dinky project between all three of us," he began. He looked up at his best friends. "Who wants to do the research, the drawing, or the writing?"

* * *

A solid hour leaked by before both Tucker and Sam became restless. Sam had appointed herself as the artist—according to her, neither Danny _nor _Tucker had the drawing capabilities—Tucker took charge of the research and design of their poster, and Danny was going to write down every section and glue them onto the finished project.

But by the time four thirty arrived, neither Tucker nor Sam wanted to work on the project any longer. And although Danny had become once more a little concerned about showing his parents' ghost portal to his best friends, they insisted and even _ordered _him to get up and take them downstairs immediately.

So Danny did.

"Oh-ho-ho, no _way, _dude!" Tucker said in complete amazement once he and Sam gazed upon the giant hole in the wall. "That's like, _THE_ most advanced piece of technology I have ever seen in my life!" He looked at Danny with bright eyes. "Your parents would become the _richest _people on the _planet, _Dude!"

"But it doesn't even _work, _Tucker," Danny reminded him.

"Yeah; but still, they built a _portal! _That's better than any PDA I'll ever see, and that's saying a lot!"

Sam walked up to the portal and pulled out her grandmother's instant photograph camera. "It looks like a big hole in the wall," she commented as she snapped one picture after another, "But heck, I'd give to have a lab and a non-functioning ghost portal instead of the cheerfulness my parents deliver every single morning."

Tucker ran up to the portal and leaned into it. "So, this thing is actually supposed to connect our world to another dimension or something?" he asked.

Danny stared into the tunnel. "Supposedly," he replied. "And it almost did, until it sparked and blew its battery."

"Bummer. I'll bet this thing would look so _sweet_ if it functioned properly."

Danny looked at the strange microchip-like markings along the insides of the portal. "Yeah," he said softly. "Totally."

Sam took a few more pictures of the lab before turning the camera at the boys. "Say cheese!" she exclaimed.

Both Danny and Tucker looked at her, just as the bright flash went off in their eyes. They shouted in surprise and covered their faces.

"More like, say _blindness!"_ Tucker exclaimed as he attempted to rub out the stars in his eyes.

"Sam, what was _that _for?" Danny cried out.

Sam waved the photo around and stared at it with a grin. "Oh, just for memory's sake," she replied. She held up the camera again. "Okay, I'll give more of a warning this time. Look here, guys!"

Danny and Tucker looked at her before placing their arms around each other and giving the peace sign. Baring their teeth, they grinned brightly.

Sam snapped another picture and then ran to the hangers in the lab were. There, she found an extra jumpsuit, white with black gloves and boots. It was the perfect size for a teenage boy, and she knew exactly who would look better in it.

Danny rubbed some last stars out of his eyes before turning at looking at Sam. By that time, the girl had tossed the jumpsuit at him, causing him to shout in surprise before pulling it off of his head. "What's this for?" he wondered, holding it up from the shoulders.

Sam held up her camera. "Look here, Danny!" she said, taking another photo. "Smile!"

Danny had no time to grin for that one, though he once more tried to remove the stars from his eyes. "Okay, I showed you the ghost portal," he said, becoming once more anxious. He looked around the lab. "So can we get out of here now? My parents could be back here any _minute _now."

"We have to go _now?"_ Tucker moaned. "But we just _got _down here!"

"Yeah, and I'm not out of film yet!" Sam added, holding up her camera.

Danny frowned. "Guys, I'm not supposed to invite people into my parents' lab without them knowing," he said. "If Mom found out, she'd kill me!"

"But there's so much more I want to know about this thing!" Tucker pointed out, running to the portal again and rubbing its frame.

"What's more to know? It doesn't even _work."_

"Well, yeah, but—!"

Sam walked up to the portal as well and stared into it while grinning excitedly. "Come _on, _Danny," she insisted. "A Ghost Zone? Aren't you the _least _bit curious?" She looked at her best friend. "Put on that jumpsuit and just… _walk _in!"

"_What?"_ Danny exclaimed. "Sam, are you _crazy _or something?"

"You said yourself that it didn't work, so what's the harm? C'mon, Danny; you've _gotta _check it out!"

Danny hesitated a moment, but then walked over to her and stared into the portal again. Like the same morning, his curiosity began drawing different theories of what was waiting on the other side of the portal—if it worked. What kind of ghosts—if they really existed—lived in this said Ghost Zone? Were they friendly or evil? Were there adventures just waiting to be discovered?

Did he have the _courage _to step into a busted portal, for just a few seconds, and take a look? It would not do him any harm, right? It wasn't active. Could he really be scared to not take this chance? Could he finally do something out-of-the-ordinary for Ordinary and Invisible Daniel Fenton?

Danny studied the portal for a moment longer and then finally grinned. Sure… he could try to spice it up.

"You know what?" he said, looking at Sam, "You're right." He looked up at the portal again. "Who knows what kind of awesome, super-cool things exist on the other side of that portal?"

"But you just said it didn't work," Tucker pointed out.

Danny looked at him and shrugged. "I was… just imagining things," he replied. He stared into the hole. "I mean, imagine if this thing really _did _work, Tucker… we'd be the first kids on the block, never mind the whole _world, _to see the other side."

Without a single hesitation, which was strange for him, Danny unzipped the front of the jump suit and slipped inside, one foot, one leg at a time. He slid his arms into the thin yet durable material, adjusted the collar and then pulled the zipper up to his neck.

Once he had suited up, he turned and looked at his best friends. "How do I look?" he asked with a wry grin.

"Like a Fenton!" Tucker said, holding out a fist. "A Fenton with guts! And a jumpsuit! You just need to get a few muscles, Dude, and the girls would be falling for you everywhere!"

Danny's eyes brightened. "You think?" he said, staring at his thin arms. He had never considered himself good enough to attract girls. "Maybe I should start doing weights or something…"

Tucker gave him the thumbs up until Sam frowned. "Hang on," she said.

Danny stared at her as Sam walked to him. To his surprise, she reached out and grabbed a giant sticker that was sitting on the front of the jumpsuit.

A sticker of his father's grinning face.

Sam crumpled it up and tossed it over her shoulder. "You can't go walking around with _that _on your chest," she said. "Not only will the ghosts make fun of you, but the girls on this side would run in fright. No matter _how _big your muscles are, Danny-Boy."

Danny narrowed his eyes and yet cracked a small grin, making Tucker giggle in the background.

Once Sam had taken one last picture of him, he turned around, coming face-to-face with the hole-in-the-wall which his parents called a Ghost Portal.

For a moment, it seemed as though his childhood fears were coming back to life; but he quickly brushed them aside, frowned boldly for a second, looked at his best friends—who gave him the thumbs up—and then took the first step.

_Well, _he thought, _here goes._

He stepped into the portal, the sound of his boots clanking softly against the smooth metal beneath his feet. Danny felt a cold chill run up his spine as he tried hard not to give into the fears he had known for so long. His head was telling him to turn back and forget about this sudden courage.

But his body was forcing him forward. So forward Danny went.

When he had entered the portal, Danny noticed that the strange designs in the metal were glowing dimly with a blueish-green light. _I guess Mom and Dad designed them to be simple nightlights in case they worked on the inside when it wasn't active, _Danny thought. It made him wonder how much they would glow if the portal actually worked.

He had made it nearly to the end of the portal. Danny stared about in silent awe, amazed at his parents' hard work and stunned as to why it would not function. Everything so far seemed to be properly designed and built. And nothing was sticking out. _So then, why didn't it work?_

Danny remained awestruck at the design of the portal. He raised a hand as he walked in a little further. "When you guys build things, you guys _build _things," he whispered, reaching out blindly to lay a hand against the wall.

"Yo, Danny!" Tucker shouted out, causing Danny to turn and look to the entrance. "How's it lookin' like so far, Dude?"

Tucker's voice echoed in the emptiness of the portal. Danny shrugged. "Uh, so far, it looks just like the front of it," he replied. "Nothing different, except for the fact it seems to get darker as I go in further."

"Absolutely _nothing _different?" Sam asked, sounding as though she was doubtful.

"Trust me, Sam; if there was something beyond amazing, I would have told you already."

Danny turned his head back to the back of the portal again and stared at the circular design at the very end of it. It looked almost like a thick steel door, as though it was meant to be opened, but was firmly locked in place without a handle.

The fourteen-year-old stared at it in curiosity. _Is that… something like a door? _He thought, reaching out again to trail his hand against the left wall.

To his confusion, he felt an uneven surface beneath his hand as it landed, almost like a small but obvious bump. His hand fell gently against it, levelling it with the rest of the portal wall.

Danny froze in confusion yet had not even a split second to ponder this when the portal suddenly began to hum. He made to turn and see what had happened, if Tucker had accidentally found a way to activate something, but before he could, the inside of the portal filled with bright blue light.

Danny looked up and gasped.

"Danny, GET OUT OF THERE!" Tucker hollered.

But Danny was already unable to move, even before Tucker had shouted. For no sooner had the portal lit up, did it come to life.

Rods of electricity-like energy streamed around him in every direction, and suddenly, Danny felt his body go completely rigid. A burning sensation surged through him, like what he imagined powerful volts of electricity would feel like, causing his body to throb with indescribable pain.

He let out the loudest scream he had ever heard himself unleash. The lights in the portal grew brighter and brighter, going from blue to green. The humming got louder and the pain continued to rise.

"DANNY! Oh, my _God!_ TURN THAT THING OFF, TUCKER!"

"_How?_ He turned it on from the INSIDE!"

Sounds began to merge together, creating echoes that made Danny's head throb even more. For reasons unknown to him, he could feel his body begin to change. For split seconds, it felt as though his pulse was slowing down, even stopping completely. He felt his arms, legs and chest grow if just a slight more sturdier and stronger. His brain felt as though it would eventually explode.

But the worst were his eyes. At one point, Danny unwillingly shot his eyes wide open, which only worsened the pain. Now exposed to the power that was bringing the ghost portal to life, he felt as though his eyes were burning up from the outside.

And the worst part was that he _could not close them._

* * *

Tucker and Sam stood helplessly outside the portal trying to figure out how to get their best friend out of it before he fried himself to death. Neither of them had seen the _On _and _Off _switches inside the portal until Danny had pressed the _On _one by accident. Tucker attempted to warn Danny, but it was already too late.

He pulled on his beret. "And he was worried _WE'D _get killed!" he exclaimed in fear. "Sam, what are we gonna _do?"_

Sam was searching the room with her eyes, trying to find something that they could use to deactivate the portal. "Like you said, he activated it from the inside!" she said worriedly. "But his parents have _got _to have _something _in here that we could use! But _what?"_

An even louder scream of pain emanated from the portal, causing both Tucker and Sam to stare into it again. Sam covered her mouth in horror.

"Oh, my _gosh!"_ Tucker gasped. "What the heck's _happening _to him? His hair is turning _white!"_

* * *

Danny could no longer hear anything except for his screams. And for one reason or another, he could no longer feel his heart beating.

He was more than certain now that his body was completely on fire. Everything began to twist and turn. He heard a loud alarm go off, and then suddenly he felt as though he was floating in mid air, without any suspension holding him up.

_I'm falling, I'm falling,_ he thought fearfully. _Tucker! Sam! HELP ME!_

His heart and mind screamed out for help, but all that emerged from his mouth were screams. He just wanted the pain to stop. He wanted to find some way to turn that _stupid Ghost Portal OFF!_

Suddenly, a loud _swoosh-ing _noise surrounded him, and finally, Danny found the ability to close his eyes again. He did so, but only for a second before looking towards the opening of the portal.

A swirling green vortex of light twisted into view and covered the entrance. The metal walls of the portal faded away, giving way to a vastness of green and purple hues. Floating doors, platforms and odd creatures littered this unending world.

_The… Ghost Zone?_ Danny thought.

But he no longer wanted to know. He only wanted to get _out._

Although it no longer felt as though he was burning alive, he could still feel the pain pulsing through his body. Danny forced himself to turn towards the vortex, having a feeling that that was where the exit was, and reached out as far as he could while groaning painfully and grinding his teeth.

_Fly… fly forward…_

He heard himself instruct him what to do, though the orders made _absolutely _no sense to him. Whether they did or not, however, Danny was willing to do _anything _to get out of his situation.

_Fly, Danny… flyyyy!_

They had watched as he transformed before their very eyes. Sam grabbed Tucker's arm and shut her eyes tightly, placing them against her best friend's shoulder to hide the scene that was taking place. Tucker forced himself to continue to watch, not only out of an odd curiosity, but also out of concern; if Danny ever did manage to reach out to him, Tucker would have to be ready to pull him to safety.

But to his complete and utter dismay, a green whirlpool-like light twisted into view and completely covered the portal entrance, throwing the entire lab into an eerie silence.

Therefore, it hid Danny completely from Tucker's view.

Tucker gasped in horror and reached out. "DANNY!" he cried, catching Sam's attention.

Sam looked up. "Tucker, what _is _that thing?" she said, pointing at the portal.

"I dunno, try _Swirling Vortex of Doom!_"

"Where did Danny go?"

"He's still _in _there!"

"I can't see him!"

Tucker hesitated, and then dashed towards the portal. Sam gasped and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "Tucker, don't be an _idiot!"_ she exclaimed. "You don't know where that thing leads!"

"But Danny!" Tucker tried pulling himself free. "Danny's still _in _that thing, Sam! We need to get him out!"

"But what if _you _go in there and meet your doom?"

Tucker was about to argue the matter when a soft _hissing _noise caught his attention. Gasping softly, he turned his head and stared at the portal.

Out _floated_ a fourteen-year-old boy, but it did not look like the same teenager who had first _entered _the portal.

"Oh, my _gosh,"_ Sam whispered while covering her mouth.

* * *

It took several unbearable seconds for Danny to finally reach the green vortex and stick his hand through it. His vision began to blur with all of the pain he felt. He whimpered but forced himself to continue _flying _forward in order to reach the exit.

The vortex hissed softly as he passed through it. On the other side, despite the dancing images in his view, Danny recognized his parents' lab.

He floated forward until he was completely out of the portal; once he was, he sighed loudly in agony and collapsed to the floor.

"Danny!"

Danny tried with a great amount of strength to overcome his still-present pain and got on all fours. He groaned behind clenched teeth and shut his eyes tightly. His arms shook at the effort of keeping himself up. His head felt light, yet seemed to weigh a ton, as he could not lift it very far. He gasped painfully for air, but it did not feel as though he even needed it.

His heart was still not beating.

"_Danny! Danny, are you okay?"_

Danny could vaguely make out the panicking voices of his best friends. That was when he decided to raise his head as high as he could and look up.

The blurred outlines of Sam and Tucker came into view. They seemed to recoil in shock. Tucker's eyes went wide and Sam covered her mouth.

"Sam?" Danny panted as his vision began to blacken. "Tucker? Wh-what's going on? Wh-why are you staring at me like that?"

But before he could even think of hearing an answer from either of them, Danny's arms gave in and he dropped like a rock against the floor. Black curtains fell over his eyes and everything fell silent.

* * *

"_Danny?"_

"_Dude, you okay?"_

Echoes filled his ears, giving him a headache. At first, Danny was unsure of what was happening or where he was. He had even come to the conclusion that what he remembered occurring in his parents' lab was just a dream. Just a distant dream.

The thought and possibility made him relax. And when he felt his heart beating, it made him even smile.

"_Why are you smiling?"_

"_Maybe he's thinking of Paulina."_

"_Oh, for cryin' out… DANNY! WAKE UP!"_

Danny shot his eyes open and cried out in fright, causing himself to sit up straight. "What? What? What's going on?" he exclaimed.

"Dude, you're alive!"

Danny blinked several times before rubbing his eyes. "I'm… I'm _what?"_

When he looked about again, he realized that he was in his own bedroom, sitting on his bed, in the clothes he had been wearing that day—white t-shirt, blue baggy jeans and his red sneakers.

Everything was like it had always been.

Danny panted loudly before sighing of relief and falling against the pillow on his bed. He laughed nervously. "Oh my _gosh,"_ he gasped, passing a hand over his face. "Oh, my _gosh…"_

"Danny?"

Danny finally turned his head. There, standing by his bedside, were Sam and Tucker, looking just as they had before.

Except for the worried looks on their faces.

"Hey, guys," Danny said as cheerfully as he could. "Are we still Monday?"

Tucker nervously rubbed his hands while Sam nodded.

"Cool… So then, why am I in bed?"

At this, Sam and Tucker shared an even more concerned look. This began to worry Danny, and his blue eyes filled with anxiety. "Uh, guys?" he said. "Why are you looking at each other like that?"

"Danny, do you even _remember _what happened?" Sam asked, looking at him again.

"Sssshhhhhould I?" Danny replied, unsure if he would even _want _to know.

"You stepped into the portal, remember?"

_Remember… remember… remember…_

Danny opened his eyes wide and froze.

"You accidentally turned it _on—!"_

His heart began to beat in his ears.

"—You just _survived _getting electrocuted—!"

A cold chill ran up his spine.

"—And you came out… Looking like a… a _ghost!"_

This word was unfamiliar to Danny. The fourteen-year-old widened his eyes and jumped out of bed. "A _GHOST?"_ he exclaimed.

To his complete surprise, the room filled with a bright flash of light. Danny raised an arm and covered his eyes for a few seconds, until he heard Tucker gasp.

"Sam! Sam, he did it _again!"_

These words were unfamiliar to Danny as well. He uncovered his eyes and stared at Tucker. "A… again?" he asked worriedly.

Tucker and Sam were staring back at him with wide eyes. Sam slowly raised a hand and pointed at him.

Danny waited a moment before looking down at himself. What he saw caused him to gasp and widen his eyes in horror.

He was no longer wearing his every day clothes; instead, he was wearing a black jumpsuit with a white collar, white gloves and white boots. It was as though the jumpsuit he had been wearing had inverted colors. His body was currently haloed in white light.

"What the… What's going on?" he whispered in horror while covering his mouth.

"That's not all, Danny," Sam added, as he looked up at her. The girl gently placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him around to face the mirror that was against the wall.

That was the first time Danny had ever mistaken his reflection… to be a complete _stranger._

He gasped in dismay and shock. His jet black hair had now turned as white as _snow._ It almost seemed to shimmer in the evening sunlight that was coming from his window. His cheeks no longer had the natural blush that his mother continuously complimented.

And then there were his eyes. His glowing… _green…_ eyes.

Danny let out a soft cry and forced himself to keep from falling to tears. He walked up to the mirror and slowly raised a shaking hand up to his eye. He placed two fingers down beneath his right eye and leaned forward. For a moment, his mouth only mouthed inaudible syllables. "… Wh-what…" he began shakily. "… Wh-wh-what's _happening _to me?" he finally managed to utter.

"Some sort of transformation," Tucker said softly. When Danny looked at him, Tucker continued while nervously playing with his fingers. "Somehow, activating the Ghost Portal while you were still inside caused you to… transform, you might say."

"Transform?" Danny echoed. "Wh-what do you mean, transform?"

"We're not sure _how, _but you just… did."

Sam held up a small device which Danny recognized from the lab. She handed it to him. "When you activated the portal, it made everything else in your parents' lab start working like a _charm. _Everything _ghost… _was working properly. Including the portal."

"_That _thing is some type of… uh, _ectoplasm _indicator," Tucker explained while pointing at the device. "You know, that stuff your parents keep talking about that composes ghosts… Or at least, that's what we _think_ that thing is. It sort of verbally announced its presence, so when I carried it over to you it…" Tucker fell silent here.

So Sam finished. "That thing started chattering like a juke box," she said. "It went on blabbering all this stuff that we didn't understand, and then it said that… your body was composed of… 50 % _ectoplasm."_

Danny stared at her in disbelief.

"You're… you're half _ghost, _Danny. Somehow, that shock in the ghost portal made you half _ghost."_

Danny continued to stare at her until deciding to look down at the device again. He placed his free hand over his chest. _Would that explain… why I don't have a heart beat… when I look like this? _He thought.

After a moment, he looked up at Sam again. "My parents…" he began.

"They're not here yet," Sam replied. "Though they'll be wondering why the portal is working…"

Danny waited a moment and stared down at the device again.

To his complete surprise, his hand suddenly turned intangible and the object sitting in his grasp fell through it and landed on the floor. Danny gasped in shock and took a step back before holding up his hand.

"Y-yeah, you were doing weird things like that too while you were out," Tucker added. "I can do some research on ghost powers, but from what anyone could tell you, that was intangibility… one of the basic ghost powers."

"Ghost _powers?"_ Danny echoed.

"Yeah."

"Wh-what are the _other _basic powers?"

Tucker shrugged. "Invisibility, which you did once or twice… and flying, though we haven't see you do that yet."

Danny stared at him in silence before looking at his hand again. Fear and concern filled his eyes. "What… what _am _I?" he whispered.

"Still human," Sam replied. "Though you are now half ghost too… I mean, we may need to dig into it a little more, but…"

Danny looked at her as Sam's voice trailed off and she looked away awkwardly. Tucker rubbed his chin while frowning worriedly and studied Danny's body.

"Dude, don't take this wrong," Tucker said softly, "But you actually look… pretty neat like this."

His best friend remained silent.

"Half human, half ghost, ghost powers…" Tucker looked up at Danny again. "I mean, you're not just Danny _Fenton _anymore… you're…"

The front door downstairs opened up and Danny's parents announced their presence. Danny looked to his bedroom door for a moment, making sure it was locked, before looking at Tucker again.

"You're not only Danny Fenton, Dude… you're… Danny _Phantom."_


End file.
